Magnitude 5.7 Earthquake Strikes Central Japan

A 5.7-magnitude earthquake struck central Japan early on Sunday, injuring dozens of people, damaging buildings, and disrupting train services, according to officials and local media.

The Japan Meteorological Agency said the quake occurred at 1:04 a.m. (4:04 p.m. GMT Saturday) in Shizuoka Prefecture, west of Tokyo. No tsunami warning was issued.

No deaths were reported, but the earthquake caused storefront facades to shatter and disrupted transportation in parts of the country.

An official from the emergency management agency in Aichi Prefecture told Agence France-Presse that authorities received 16 reports of injuries, most of them minor.

Authorities in neighboring Shizuoka said at least three women required emergency medical care, including a woman in her 90s who fell from her bed during the tremor.

Local newspaper Chunichi Shimbun and TV channel Tokai reported separately that at least 24 people were injured in the two regions.

The earthquake also temporarily suspended regional train services on Sunday morning, including high-speed Shinkansen trains.

Local media reported that the quake’s effects were felt as far west as Osaka, where a foreign resident was hospitalized after falling from a second-floor apartment in a panic triggered by the tremor.

Officials in Osaka were not immediately available for comment.

In a separate incident, the meteorological agency reported that a 4.3-magnitude earthquake hit the Kumamoto region at 10:53 a.m. (1:53 a.m. GMT) on Sunday.

No immediate reports of damage or injuries from the second quake were received.

Areas in southwestern Japan are still recovering from a 7.1-magnitude earthquake in July that killed 38 people, destroyed homes, and left tens of thousands without electricity.

Japanese memories also remain vivid of the massive 2011 earthquake, which measured 9.0 and triggered tsunamis that killed or left missing about 18,500 people, as well as causing severe damage to the Fukushima nuclear power plant.